Patient direct connect

ABSTRACT

An online service provider information service provides users with the ability to contact service centers. The service provides the ability for service centers to participate in the service as a sponsor. A user requests information regarding a particular service provider or service. In response, a webpage is generated with the requested information. Unique contact identifiers are associated with the sponsors that allow a user to connect to the sponsor service center and are included in the webpage. The unique identifiers allow the service to track the success of directing users to the sponsored service centers based on their participation in the information service. The unique identifiers also allow for implementing pay per search payment schemes and for generating reports based on the sponsor&#39;s participation in the information service.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all (copyright ormask work) rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

Users in need of a specific service provider often use the Internet tolocate a specific service provider. Service providers advertise withsearch engines to draw attention to their services. However, suchadvertisements generally provide the user with the service provider'sphone number, which the user then calls to contact the service providerdirectly. Because the service provider is receiving phone calls, thereis no easy way for the service provider to monitor information about theamount of business being generated through on-line advertising. It iswith respect to this general environment that embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been contemplated.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to providing patient directconnect access to medical service centers. Medical service centersprovide access to various medical service providers. One non-limitingexample of a medical service center is a hospital call center that isable to direct patients to various different doctors and medical serviceproviders. In embodiments, systems and methods are disclosed thatprovide a user direct connect access to a medical service center via anetwork. In some embodiments, the network comprises a server capable ofgenerating webpages that are transmitted to a client and displayed to auser. The generated webpages contain information that direct a user to asponsored service center. In further embodiments, the sponsored servicecenter connects the user to a medical service provider capable ofaddressing the user's needs.

Other embodiments of the disclosure relate to directing users tosponsored medical service providers based upon the users' particularneeds and location. Disclosed embodiments provide information to userssuch that participating sponsored service centers are presented to usersin a manner that makes the sponsored service centers more attractive tothe user. Yet another embodiment of the present disclosure relates totracking the success of the participation of an individual sponsor in adirect connect service by generating unique contact numbers thatidentify the sponsor to the user. Disclosed methods further providemechanisms for generating reports related to the amount of clienttraffic generated by the sponsor's participation via the use of theunique contact numbers. In still further embodiments, the presentdisclosure provides a pricing per search method to charge a sponsorbased upon the number of times the sponsor is presented to a user.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key or essentialfeatures of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used tolimit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be more readily described byreference to the accompanying drawings in which like numbers refer tolike items and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of a system 100 operable toprovide user direct connect services.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart representing an embodiment of a method 200 forgenerating a user direct connect service webpage at a server.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart representing an embodiment of a method 300 forgenerating one or more unique identifiers to be included in a directconnect service webpage.

FIG. 4A is an illustration of an embodiment 400 of a search result page.

FIG. 4B is an illustration of an embodiment 410 of a sponsoring serviceprovider result page.

FIG. 4C is an illustration of an embodiment 420 of a competing serviceprovider result page.

FIG. 4D is an illustration of an embodiment of 430 of a sponsor resultpage.

FIG. 4E is an illustration of yet another embodiment 420 of a competingservice provider result page illustrating a rollover display.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart representing an embodiment of a method 500 forproviding a price per search with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart representing an embodiment of a method 600 forproviding metrics tracking with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a functional diagram illustrating a computer environment andcomputer system 700 operable to execute embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure more fully describes exemplary embodiments withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which some of the possibleembodiments are shown. Other aspects, however, may be embodied in manydifferent forms and the inclusion of specific embodiments in thedisclosure should not be construed as limiting such aspects to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, the embodiments depicted in thedrawings are included to provide a disclosure that is thorough andcomplete and which fully conveys the intended scope to those skilled inthe art. When referring to the figures, like structures and elementsshown throughout are indicated with like reference numerals.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to providing patient directconnect access to medical service centers. Medical service centersprovide access to various medical service providers. One non-limitingexample of a medical service center is a hospital call center that isable to direct patients to various doctors and other medical serviceproviders. In embodiments, systems and methods are disclosed thatprovide a user direct connect access to a medical service center. Insome embodiments, the system comprises a server capable of generatingwebpages that are transmitted to a client and displayed to a user. Thegenerated webpages contain information that direct a user to a sponsoredservice center. In yet another embodiment, the sponsored service centerconnects the user to a medical service provider capable of addressingthe user's needs.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure relate to directing usersto sponsored medical service providers based upon the users' particularrequest and location. Disclosed embodiments provide information to userssuch that participating sponsored service centers are presented to usersin a manner that makes the sponsored service centers more attractive tothe user.

Other embodiments of the present disclosure relate to tracking thesuccess of the participation of the sponsored service centers throughthe use of unique contact numbers that identify the sponsor to the user.Disclosed methods provide mechanisms for generating reports related tothe amount of client traffic generated by a sponsor's participation inthe direct connect service using the unique contact numbers. In stillfurther embodiments, the present disclosure provides a pricing persearch method to charge a sponsor based upon the number of times thesponsor is presented to a user.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a system 100 for providingpatient direct connect access is illustrated. A client computer 102sends a request to a server computer 104 via a network 106. Inembodiments, the client computer may be a personal computer, a smartphone, a cellular phone, a netbook, or any other computing device. Inone embodiment, the network 106 is the Internet. In other embodiments,the network 106 may be a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network(“WAN”), a wireless network, a plain old telephone service network(“POTS”), or any other type of network known to the art. Upon receivingthe request, in embodiments the server generates and transmits a webpageto the client 102. In further embodiments, server 104 is communicativelyconnected to datastore 114. Server 104 may query the datastore 114 togather data that is included in the webpage that is transmitted back tothe client. For example, datastore 114 may include information relatedto sponsored service centers, service providers, unique contact numbers,or any other information included in the webpages discussed in thisdisclosure.

In embodiments, the client 102 displays the webpage to a user throughthe use of a browser. The browser and the webpage are operable toreceive user input and transmit the user input back to the server 104.In embodiments, the webpage is operable to receive a query from theuser. In a specific embodiment, the query may comprise a search requestfor a medical service provider. As an example, the request may compriseinformation related to a specific medical expertise and a geographiclocation for a medical service provider. In response to receiving thesearch request, the server 104 generates search results and transmitsthe results to the client 102. In embodiments, the results may betransmitted to the client in the form of one or more webpages, such asthe webpages described with respect to FIGS. 4A-E, as will be discussedin more detail below.

In embodiments, the search results contain one or more unique contactidentifiers that are displayed to the user of client computer 102.Exemplary unique contact identifiers may include, but are not limitedto, a unique email address, a unique account identifier, or any othertype of unique identifier related to a service center. In one specificembodiment, the unique contact identifier is a unique telephone numberfor a sponsored service center that is not made available elsewhere.Upon receiving the one or more unique contact numbers, the user is ableto contact a sponsored service center 108. In embodiments, the user maycontact the sponsored service center 108 using the client computer 102via network 106. In other embodiments, the client may contact thesponsored service center 108 via other means, such as a phone. One ofskill in the art will appreciate that any means of contacting thesponsored service center 108 are contemplated within the presentdisclosure and may be practiced with the embodiments disclosed herein.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, unique identifiers, alsoreferred to as unique contact numbers, may change based upon the type ofwebpage and the context and/or portion of the webpage that they areincluded on. For example, there may be one or more unique identifiersthat refer to the same sponsored service center. In embodiments, a firstunique identifier for a sponsored service center 108 may be included ina general search page. A second unique identifier for the same servicecenter 108 may be included in a webpage for an affiliated serviceprovider. Furthermore, a third unique identifier for the same sponsoredservice 108 center may be included in a webpage for a non-affiliatedservice provider. In embodiments, different unique identifiers areincluded in different webpages or different sections on the same webpageto provide for metrics tracking. The system 100 uses the differentunique identifiers to track user access to the sponsored service center108. One of skill in the art will appreciate that any number of uniqueidentifiers may be assigned to a sponsored service center 108.

In embodiments, the user is directed to the sponsored service center 108because of the service center's affiliation with a specific serviceprovider selected by the user. In other embodiments, the user mayspecifically request that he or she is directed to the sponsored servicecenter 108. The sponsored service center 108 acts as a gateway tospecific service providers. For example, in one embodiment, thesponsored service center may be a hospital call center that is capableof directing the user to one of its affiliated medical serviceproviders. Directing the user to a sponsored service center 108 ratherthan to the specific service provider provides several benefits. Forexample, the sponsored service center 108 is able to answer anyquestions the user may have before connecting the user to a specificmedical service provider. In other instances, the user may seek aspecific medical service provider with a specialty that is not suited todiagnose and treat the user. In such instances, the representatives atthe sponsored service center 108 can redirect the user to a differentmedical service provider that is suited for the user's needs.Additionally, directing the user to a sponsored service center 108rather than the specific medical service provider allows for metricsmonitoring, such as the uptake of new patients by the sponsored servicecenter's affiliated service providers. For example, a hospital may beinterested in acting as a gateway to its affiliated physicians tomonitor the practice, performance, business generation, and/oradvertising success of the hospital's programs and physicians. Inaddition to these examples, one of skill in the art will appreciate thatthere are other benefits, not discussed, to directing the user to asponsored service center rather than a specific medical provider.

In embodiments, the sponsored service center 108 is operable to takeinformation from the user and then direct the user to an affiliatedservice provider. For example, upon being contacted by the user, thesponsored service center may gather information related to the user'sname, address, phone number, medical history, or any other informationrelated to the user. In embodiments, upon gathering the user'sinformation, the sponsoring service center connects the user to aservice provider 112 via network 110. Although network 110 isillustrated as different from network 106, one of skill in the art willappreciate that network 110 may be the same as network 106. The serviceprovider 112 has a relationship with the sponsored service center 108.In one embodiment, the service provider 112 may be affiliated with thesponsored service center. For example, the service provider may be aphysician that is affiliated with a hospital. In embodiments, thesponsored service center may connect the user to the service provider'soffice, at which point the user can schedule an appointment with theservice provider 112. In yet another embodiment, the sponsored servicecenter 108 may schedule an appointment with the service provider 112 onbehalf of the client.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a method 200 for generating a user directconnect service webpage at a server. Flow begins at step 202 where theserver, such as server 104 (FIG. 1), receives a request from a client,such as client 102 (FIG. 2). Flow proceeds to step 204, where the serverdetermines the type of request that the client made.

If the client made a search request, flow branches SEARCH to step 206where the server generates the search results based upon searchparameters received from the client. For example, in one embodiment theclient may request a search for medical service providers in a specificgeographic location having a specific specialty (e.g., searchparameters). Upon receiving the request, the server will query itsdatabase to produce a list of all medical service providers that satisfythe user's search request. In embodiments, the results may be aggregatedinto a webpage that can be displayed by the client.

Referring now to FIG. 4A, the figure illustrates an embodiment of asearch result page 400 that may be generated by the server at step 206.The webpage 400 may include one or more search areas, such as searcharea 402. As illustrated in this particular embodiment, a client mayrequest a search for a medical service provider having a specificgeographic location and specialty. In the illustrated embodiment, theclient requested a cardiothoracic surgeon in Jacksonville, Fla. Theserver queries a database of medical service providers and returns theresults in a results section 404 of the webpage 400. In embodiments, thewebpage 400 draws attention to sponsored service providers and theiraffiliated doctors. For example, webpage 400 draws attention to asponsored service center by displaying a unique identifier 406 for thesponsored service center (e.g., the sponsored service center's unique1-800 contact number) predominately at the top of the results sectionimmediately followed by the sponsored service center's affiliateddoctors. The sponsored service center's unique identifier 406 may alsobe displayed at the bottom of the page to draw additional attention tothe sponsored service center.

In the illustrated embodiment, the search result webpage 400 alsodisplays lists of medical service providers that satisfy the submittedsearch query. The lists of medical service providers contain information408 related to the medical service provider. In embodiments, theinformation may include, but is not limited to, information regardingthe medical service providers name, specialties, gender, location,affiliations, links to further information about the service provider,and/or contact information. As illustrated in the embodiment, thesponsored service center's affiliated doctors also display the sponsoredservice center's unique identifier 406. Further, as illustrated, theservice center's unique identifier 406 may be placed in differentsections of the webpage. In embodiments, each of unique identifier 406may be the same unique identifier for the same service center ordifferent unique identifiers for the same service center (e.g.,different contact numbers that direct the user to the same servicecenter).

In order to draw more attention to the sponsored service center and itsaffiliated service providers, the webpage 400 may list all of theaffiliated service providers before the unaffiliated providers. In otherembodiments, the webpage 400 may contain additional information aboutthe affiliated providers that is not provided for the unaffiliatedservice providers, offer free reports for the affiliated providers, oruse any other known methods to draw a user's attention to the sponsoredservice center and its affiliated providers.

Referring back to FIG. 2, after generating the search result webpage,flow proceeds to step 216 where the generated search page is sent to theclient.

If the client made a request for a specific medical provider, flowbranches PROVIDER to step 208. In embodiments, a client may request aspecific medical service provider by entering the specific serviceprovider as a search parameter or by clicking a link to the specificservice provider that was included in a previously generated searchpage, such as the webpage illustrated in FIG. 4A. At step 208, theserver determines the type of provider that the client requested. If theprovider is affiliated with a sponsoring service center, flow branchesAFFILIATED to step 210. At step 210, the server generates an affiliatedservice provider webpage.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, an example of an embodiment of an affiliatedservice provider webpage 410 is illustrated. In an embodiment, theaffiliated provider webpage contains an information section 412 thatincludes information about the affiliated provider and his or herpractice. In embodiments, information section 412 contains informationthat is related to the service provider's practice, personalinformation, experience, training, education, recommendations and/orcomments about the service provider's performance, any disciplinaryaction taken against the service provider, and/or the malpracticehistory of the service provider. Although the embodiment of webpage 410relates to a medical service provider and provides examples of displayedinformation that is relevant to such, one of skill in the art willappreciate that any type of service provider may be illustrated inwebpage 410 in which case the information displayed on webpage 410 willbe specific to the type of the service provider.

In embodiments, the webpage 410 also includes a unique identifier 414and sponsored service center information. In embodiments, the uniqueidentifier directs the user to the sponsoring service center affiliatedwith the service provider. In embodiments, the unique identifier isdifferent from the unique identifier placed on the search result webpage400 (FIG. 4A) on a non-affiliated service provider webpage (e.g.,webpage 430 (FIG. 4C)), or on the sponsor information webpage (e.g.,webpage 440 (FIG. 4D)) even though the unique identifier may referencethe same sponsored service center. The different unique identifiersignifies that the user was directed to the sponsored service centerfrom the affiliated service provider webpage 410. This allows for metrictracking that differentiates on the type of search and/or webpage thatthe user received the unique identifier. For example, providingdifferent unique identifiers allows for the service to determine whethermore users are directed to a sponsoring service center from a searchpage, an affiliated service provider page, a non-affiliated serviceprovider page, or a sponsor information page. Such determinations andthe information provided metric tracking based upon the uniqueidentifier provides information to the sponsors that they can use todetermine correlations between advertising and business generation.

In further embodiments, the webpage 410 also includes an interactivesection 416. For example, the interactive section provides links thatallow the user to perform actions related to the webpage such asprinting the page, emailing the page, saving the page, etc. Inadditional embodiments, the interactive section 416 also provides a linkin which the service provider can use to update or edit the informationon the page or contact a representative to update or edit the page. Infurther embodiments, the interactive section may provide the user theability to leave a comment about the service provider that can be madeavailable to other users examining the affiliated service provider'swebpage.

Referring back to FIG. 2, after generating the affiliated serviceprovider webpage 410, flow proceeds to step 216 where the generatedsearch page is sent to the client. If, at step 208 the server determinesthat the provider is not affiliated with a sponsoring service center,flow branches NON-AFFILIATED to step 212. At step 212, the servergenerates a non-affiliated service provider webpage.

FIG. 4C is an embodiment of a non-affiliated service provider webpage420 that may be generated at step 212. In an embodiment, thenon-affiliated provider webpage 420 contains an information section 422that includes information about the non-affiliated provider and his orher practice. In embodiments, information section 422 containsinformation that is related to the non-affiliated service provider'spractice, personal information, experience, training, education,comments about the non-affiliated service provider's performance, anydisciplinary action taken against the non-affiliated service provider,and/or the malpractice history of the non-affiliated service provider.In other embodiments, information section 422 may contain moreinformation, less information, or different types of information thanthe information illustrated in information section 412 (FIG. 4B) becausethe information is related to a non-affiliated service provider. Inembodiments, the information in the non-affiliated service providerwebpage 420 may be limited in order to attract the user to a sponsoredservice center or an affiliated service provider. In embodiments, thenon-affiliated service provider webpage 420 may provide a mechanism fora user to access a report or more detailed information about the serviceprovider. For example, webpage 420 includes a link 422 that allows theuser to receive more information. In some embodiments, the user may haveto pay to access the report or additional information. In otherembodiments, webpage 420 may contain additional advertisements that arenot present in the affiliated service provider webpage 410. The extrasteps of requiring the user to pay or click on multiple links toreceived detailed information about a non-affiliated service providerand the extra advertisements placed on the non-affiliated serviceprovider webpage 420 result in the non-affiliated service provider'sonline profile, and thereby the non-affiliated service provider, lessattractive to the customer.

The patient direct connect systems and methods disclosed hereincapitalize on the unattractiveness of non-affiliated service providerwebpages (such as webpage 420) to direct users to affiliated serviceproviders. In embodiments, the non-affiliated webpage 420 includes asponsored service center unique identifier 424 (e.g., a unique callcenter number) and sponsored service center information (e.g., thesponsor call center name, logo, trademark, etc.) at a prevalent positionin the page. For example, the sponsored service center unique identifiermay be located at the top of the non-affiliated service provider webpage420. In embodiments, a sponsor service is selected that is within thesame geographic location and can provide the same services or hasaffiliated service providers that offer the same services as thenon-affiliated service provider. A sponsor service center uniqueidentifier 426 is displayed on the webpage 420 for a sponsor servicecenter that satisfies these requirements.

In further embodiments, the non-affiliated service provider webpage mayinclude additional sponsor information sections, such as sponsorinformation section 426. In embodiments, sponsor information section 426includes information about a sponsor service center that is within thesame geographic location and can provide the same services or hasaffiliated service providers that offer the same services as thenon-affiliated service provider. In one embodiment, the sponsoredservice center may be the same sponsored service center identified byunique identifier 424. In other embodiments, it may be a differentsponsored service provider than the sponsored service center identifiedby unique identifier 424. The sponsor information section may containadditional information about the sponsor such as the sponsor servicecenter's name, its location, offered services, specialties, affiliatedservice providers, the sponsored service center's unique identifier, orany other information relevant to the sponsored service center. In oneembodiment, the sponsor information section 426 may include a list ofaffiliated service providers offering the same services or having thesame specialty as the non-affiliated service provider. In furtherembodiments, the sponsor information section has links to additionalinformation about the sponsored service center or its affiliated serviceproviders.

As discussed, in embodiments the unique identifier for the sponsoredservice center 423 displayed on the non-affiliated service providerwebpage 420 may be a different unique identifier than the uniqueidentifiers displayed a search page (e.g., 400 (FIG. 4A)), theaffiliated service provider webpage (e.g., 410 (FIG. 4B)), or thesponsor information webpage (e.g., webpage 430 (FIG. 4D)) even thoughthe unique identifiers may direct the user to the same sponsored servicecenter. As discussed, this provides the ability to determine from whichwebpage the user was ultimately directed to the sponsored servicecenter.

Referring again back to FIG. 2, after generating the affiliated serviceprovider webpage 410, flow proceeds to step 216 where the generatedsearch page is sent to the client. If, at step 204 the server determinesthat the client made a request for sponsor information, then flowbranches SPONSOR to step 214. At step 214, the server generates asponsor information webpage.

FIG. 4D is an embodiment of a sponsor information webpage 430 that maybe generated at step 214. The sponsor information webpage 430 includes asponsor information section 434. The sponsor information section 434includes information about the sponsor. In embodiments, the informationabout the sponsor may be information regarding the sponsor's name,location, specialties, mission statement, services, affiliated serviceproviders, certifications, pictures, logos, or any other informationrelated to the sponsor. Sponsor information webpage 430 also includes aunique identifier 434 for the sponsored service center. Again, inembodiments unique identifier for the sponsored service center 432displayed on the sponsor information webpage 420 may be a differentunique identifier than the unique identifiers displayed the search page(e.g., 400 (FIG. 4A)), the affiliated service provider webpage (e.g.,410 (FIG. 4B)), or the non-affiliated service provider webpage (e.g.,webpage 420 (FIG. 4C)) even though the unique identifiers may direct theuser to the same sponsored service center.

The various webpages generated at steps 206, 210, 212, and 214 mayinclude additional functionality to further draw a user's attention to asponsored service center. FIG. 4E is an illustration of yet anotherembodiment 420 of a competing service provider result page illustratinga rollover display 428. The rollover display draws additional attentionto a sponsored service provider. In embodiments, the rollover display isgenerated upon the user positioning a mouse cursor over a particularportion of a webpage. For example, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG.4E, a rollover display is generated when the user places the mousecursor over, or within the vicinity, of a sponsor information section.In embodiments, the rollover display provides a blown up portion of arollover area to draw the user's attention to the rollover area. In theillustrated embodiment, the sponsor information section is blown up tomake it easier to read the sponsor information. In other embodiments,the rollover display area contains additional information about thesponsor that is not displayed in the webpage 430. While the rolloverdisplay functionality is illustrated with respect to the sponsorinformation section of a non-affiliated service provider webpage, one ofskill in the art will appreciate that a rollover display can be includedin any section of any webpage disclosed herein. Furthermore, in otherembodiments, the rollover display may automatically be generated withoutinteraction from the user to further draw the user's attention to asponsored service center.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart representing an embodiment of a method 300 forgenerating one or more unique identifiers to be included in a directconnect service webpage. Flow begins at step 302 sponsor serviceinformation is received. For example, a server, such as server 102 (FIG.1), receives information about a sponsor service center. In oneembodiment, the information may include an indication that a particularservice center is a sponsored service center. In another embodiment, thereceived information may include information regarding the sponsoredservice center, the sponsored service center's affiliated serviceprovider, the sponsor's services and/or specialties, the sponsoredservice centers geographic location, or any other information relevantto the sponsored service center. The information received by the serverat step 302 may be stored on the server, or on an associated datastore(e.g., datastore 114 (FIG. 1)) for later use in the generated webpages.

In response to receiving the sponsor information, flow proceeds to step304. At step 304, one or more unique identifiers are generated for thesponsored service center. In embodiments, the one or more uniqueidentifiers may be unique phone numbers, unique email addresses, uniquepostage addresses, or any other type of unique identifier. Theidentifiers are unique because they are only available to the user viathe disclosed systems and methods. For example, if the unique identifieris a phone number for the sponsored service center, the phone number isunique such that it is not the existing phone number for the sponsoredservice center and it is not available anywhere else (e.g., it is notpublished in a phone directory).

The one or more identifiers generated at step 304 are unique such thateach identifier generated is different. For example, if the identifiersare all phone numbers, each generated phone number is different despitethe fact that each of the generated phone numbers connect to the samesponsored service center. As discussed, the different unique identifiersare used to determine how a user was ultimately directed to thesponsored service center. For example, referring to webpages 400, 410,420, and 430, four different unique identifiers may be generated for thesame sponsor such that each webpage 400, 410, 420, and 430 contain adifferent unique identifier. This allows the disclosed systems andmethods to determine if the user was directed to the sponsored servicecenter from webpage 400, 410, 420, or 430. In another embodiment, aunique identifier may be generated based upon the different servicesoffered (e.g., a unique identifier for each type of service). One ofskill in the art will appreciate that any number of unique identifiersmay be generated at step 304 depending on the number of different waysin which the sponsored service center wants to track the access patternsof its users.

Flow proceeds to step 306 where the one or more unique identifiers arestored for later use. In embodiments, the unique identifiers may bestored in the server's memory or in an associated datastore. In furtherembodiments, the unique identifiers are stored such that they remainassociated with their respective sponsored service center.

Flow proceeds to step 308, where the server, at a later time, receives arequest for the webpage. The server processes the request and determinesthe type of webpage that is being requested by the method discussed withrespect to FIG. 2. Upon determining the type of webpage requested, flowproceeds to step 310 where the server determines which of the one ormore unique identifiers to include in the requested webpage. In oneembodiment, the determination is based upon two factors. First, theserver determines which sponsored service center to include in thewebpage. In one embodiment, the determination is based off of theparameters of the webpage request. For example, if the webpage requestis for a search page listing service providers having a particulargeographic location and/or specialty, the server selects a sponsoredservice center matching the parameters of the webpage request. Inanother embodiment, the determination may be based off of the content ofthe requested webpage. For example, if the requested webpage includesinformation regarding a service provider that is affiliated with asponsored service center, the server selects the sponsored servicecenter. If the webpage contains information regarding a non-affiliatedservice provider, the server selects a sponsored service center havingcharacteristics similar to the non-affiliated service provider (e.g.,same geographic location, same services, same specialties, etc).

After selecting the sponsored service center, the server next determineswhich unique identifier to display in the webpage. This determination isbased off of the number of different ways in which the sponsored servicecenter wants to track access to it. For example, if the sponsoredservice center only wants to track user access from the disclosedsystems and methods, only one unique identifier is required an the oneunique identifier is always selected for inclusion in the webpage. Ifthe sponsored service center desires to track user access from specificwebpages, then a unique identifier is selected that corresponds to thesponsor for the specific webpage. For example, if the sponsored servicecenter want to track user access from both affiliated service providerwebpages and non-affiliated service provider webpages, two differentunique identifiers are created at step 304 to correspond with each typeof webpage. The server then determines which type of webpage isrequested at step 310 and selects the unique identifier for requestedwebpage.

In further embodiments, the unique identifier displayed may vary basedupon the position of the unique identifier within the webpage. In suchembodiments, the server must also determine where the unique identifieris to be placed on the webpage before it determines which uniqueidentifier to include at step 310. Upon selecting the one or morecorrect unique identifier, flow proceeds to step 312 where the serverincludes the one or more selected unique identifiers in the webpage.

The use of the one or more unique identifiers for each sponsored servicecenter provides additional functionality to the disclosed systems andmethods. For example, the unique identifiers are useful to determine howusers are directed to the sponsored service centers. This information isthen used by the sponsored service centers to determine whether theiradvertising is generating business. Additionally, the unique identifiersprovide the ability for the disclosed systems and methods to determinebilling information.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart representing an embodiment of a method 500 forproviding a price per search with embodiments of the present disclosure.Flow begins at step 502 where a generated webpage is analyzed todetermine which sponsored service centers are included in the webpage.In embodiments, the analysis at step 502 may be conducted concurrentlywith the methods for generating webpages disclosed in FIGS. 2 and 3 orafter the webpage is generated. The webpage is analyzed at step 502 todetermine the sponsored service centers included in the webpage. In oneembodiment, each sponsored service center is determined by the one ormore unique identifiers contained in the webpage.

Upon determining which unique identifiers are included in the webpage,the accounts associated with the displayed unique identifiers arecharged at step 504. This allows the disclosed systems and methods toimplement a pay structure in which sponsored service centers are chargedper display, rather than simply charging sponsored service providers ona flat fee basis. The pay per search method benefits the sponsoredservice providers by ensuring that they are only paying based on theamount of exposure they actually receive. Additionally, the pay persearch method allows for price differentiation based upon the type ofexposure the sponsored service center is receiving (e.g., based upon thetype of webpage or the position of the sponsored service center'sinformation in a webpage). For example, it might be more valuable, andthus more expensive, to have the sponsored service center displayed on anon-affiliated service provider's webpage. This allows an implementer ofthe disclosed systems and methods to detect when a sponsored serviceprovider is displayed on a non-affiliated physician's webpage and chargeaccordingly.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart representing an embodiment of a method 600 forproviding report tracking with embodiments of the present disclosure.Flow begins with operation 602 where information from the sponsoredservice center is aggregated. In embodiments, the information aggregatedfrom the sponsored service center is information regarding the number oftimes users contacted the sponsored service center using a particularunique identifier. The information may be aggregated in a datastoreconnected to the sponsored service center, in a remote server, or in adatastore connected to a remote server. In embodiments, if a sponsoredservice center is associated with more than one unique identifier, theinformation is aggregated per each unique identifier associated with thesponsored service center. Because the unique identifier connects a userto a sponsored service center rather than a specific service provider,user information can be maintained in a centralized location rather thandistributed among various locations.

Flow proceeds to step 604 where the aggregated information is comparedagainst the number of times a unique identifier has been included in awebpage. In embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods maintain acount of the number of times a unique identifier was displayed to auser. In further embodiments, more detailed information about thedisplay of the unique identifier may also be collected (e.g., time ofday displayed, geographic location of user that the unique number wasdisplayed to, or any other relevant information). The aggregatedinformation collected from the sponsored service center may be comparedagainst the collected unique identifier data to generate reportinginformation related to the success of the sponsored service center'sparticipation in the disclosed patient direct connect systems andmethods.

Upon making the comparison of the collected sponsored center informationand the unique identifier information, flow proceeds to step 606.Various different reports can be generated based on the informationaggregated in steps 602 and 604. For example, if a sponsored servicecenter was contacted using a particular unique identifier 670 times andthe unique identifier was displayed a total of 1000 times, the successrate of business generation would be 67%. While the disclosure hasprovided a specific example of a type of report generated, one of skillin the art will appreciate that various different types of reports canbe generated at step 606.

The disclosed systems and methods may be performed using logicimplemented in hardware or in software executed by hardware. Withreference to FIG. 7, an embodiment of a computing environment forimplementing the various embodiments described herein includes acomputer system, such as computer system 700. Any and all components ofthe described embodiments may execute as or on a client computer system,a server computer system, a combination of client and server computersystems, a handheld device, and other possible computing environments orsystems described herein. As such, a basic computer system applicable toall these environments is described hereinafter.

In its most basic configuration, computer system 700 comprises at leastone processing unit or processor 704 and system memory 706. The mostbasic configuration of the computer system 700 is illustrated in FIG. 7by dashed line 702. In some embodiments, one or more components of thedescribed system are loaded into system memory 706 and executed by theprocessing unit 704 from system memory 706. Depending on the exactconfiguration and type of computer system 700, system memory 706 may bevolatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.),or some combination of the two.

Additionally, computer system 700 may also have additionalfeatures/functionality. For example, computer system 700 includesadditional storage media 708, such as removable and/or non-removablestorage, including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical disks ortape. In some embodiments, software or executable code and any data usedfor the described system is permanently stored in storage media 708.Storage media 708 includes volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. In embodiments, the capabilitynegotiation methods and wrapper inner methods are stored in storagemedia 708.

System memory 706 and storage media 708 are examples of computer storagemedia. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (“DVD”) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, orany other medium which is used to store the desired information andwhich is accessed by computer system 700 and processor 704. Any suchcomputer storage media may be part of computer system 700. In someembodiments, mammogram images and/or results of probabilitydetermination are stored in system memory 706. In embodiments, systemmemory 706 and/or storage media 708 stores data used to perform themethods or form the system(s) disclosed herein, such as generatingunique identifiers, generating webpages, generating reports, etc. Inembodiments, system memory 706 would store information such as uniqueidentifier generation methods 714 and webpage generation instructions716. In embodiments, unique identifier methods 714 may be used togenerate unique identifiers, display unique identifiers, determine payper search based on unique identifiers, or generating reports based onunique identifiers. Generation instructions 716, in embodiments, storethe instructions necessary to generate the various webpages disclosedherein. For example, generation instructions 716 may include functionsfor generating a search result page, an affiliated provider page, anon-affiliated provider page, or sponsor information page.

Computer system 700 may also contain communications connection(s) 710that allow the device to communicate with other devices. In embodiments,communications connection(s) 710 may be used to transmit and receivemessages between sender devices, intermediary devices, and recipientdevices. Communication connection(s) 710 is an example of communicationmedia. Communication media may embody a modulated data signal, such as acarrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any informationdelivery media, which may embody computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal.The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more ofits characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation or a message in the data signal. By way of example, and notlimitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as anacoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. In an embodiment,webpages may be transmitted over the communication connection(s) 710.

In some embodiments, computer system 700 also includes input and outputconnections 712, and interfaces and peripheral devices, such as agraphical user interface. Input device(s) are also referred to as userinterface selection devices and include, but are not limited to, akeyboard, a mouse, a pen, a voice input device, a touch input device,etc. Output device(s) are also referred to as displays and include, butare not limited to, cathode ray tube displays, plasma screen displays,liquid crystal screen displays, speakers, printers, etc. These devices,either individually or in combination, connected to input and outputconnections 712 are used to display the information as described herein.All these devices are well known in the art and need not be discussed atlength here.

In some embodiments, the component described herein comprise suchmodules or instructions executable by computer system 700 that may bestored on computer storage medium and other tangible mediums andtransmitted in communication media. Computer storage media includesvolatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implementedin any method or technology for storage of information such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.Combinations of any of the above should also be included within thescope of readable media. In some embodiments, computer system 700 ispart of a network that stores data in remote storage media for use bythe computer system 700.

This disclosure described some embodiments of the present disclosurewith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which only some of thepossible embodiments were shown. Other aspects may, however, be embodiedin many different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments were provided sothat this disclosure was thorough and complete and fully conveyed thescope of the possible embodiments to those skilled in the art.

Although the embodiments have been described in language specific tostructural features, methodological acts, and computer-readable mediacontaining such acts, it is to be understood that the possibleembodiments, as defined in the appended claims, are not necessarilylimited to the specific structure, acts, or media described. One skilledin the art will recognize other embodiments or improvements that arewithin the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Therefore, thespecific structure, acts, or media are disclosed only as illustrativeembodiments. The disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

1. A computer storage medium encoding computer executable instructionsthat, when executed on a processor, perform a method of generating awebpage providing a user access to medical service providers via asponsoring service center, the method comprising: receiving, at aserver, a request from a client for a medical service provider;determining a type of the request; based upon the determination,generating a webpage providing the client access to the sponsoringservice center, wherein the webpage comprises one or more unique contactnumbers that are available on the generated webpage, the one or moreunique numbers selected depending on the context of the webpage and thelocation of the one or more unique numbers on the webpage; and providingaccess to the medical service provider by sending the generated webpageto the client, wherein the one or more unique contact numbers is used toconnect the client to the sponsoring service center.
 2. The computerstorage medium of claim 1, wherein the request from the client comprisesa request for a medical service provider comprising a particularspecialty and a particular geographic location.
 3. The computer storagemedium of claim 2, wherein the generated webpage is a search resultwebpage comprising: a first unique contact number for a first sponsoringservice center; a list of a first set of medical service providersaffiliated with the sponsoring service center; and a list of a secondset of medical service providers not affiliated with the sponsoringservice center, wherein the list of the second set of medical providersis located in a separate area from the list of the first set of medicalservice providers.
 4. The computer storage medium of claim 1, whereinthe type of request from the client comprises a request for a specificmedical service provider affiliated with a sponsoring service center,and wherein the generated webpage comprises: a first unique contactnumber that provides access to the sponsoring service provider; andinformation about the specific medical service provider.
 5. The computerstorage medium of claim 4, wherein the first unique contact numberprovides an indication that the client was directed to the sponsoringservice center based on the request for the specific medical serviceprovider.
 6. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the type ofrequest from the client comprises a request for a specific medicalservice provider not affiliated with the sponsoring service center, andwherein the generated webpage comprises: a first unique contact numberthat provides access to the sponsoring service center, wherein the firstunique contact number indicates that the client was directed to thesponsoring service center from a webpage displaying information about anon-sponsored service provider not affiliated with the sponsoringservice center; information about the sponsoring service center; andinformation about the non-sponsored medical service provider.
 7. Thecomputer storage medium of claim 6, wherein the sponsoring serviceprovider is selected from a list of one or more sponsoring serviceproviders, wherein the selected sponsoring service provider isaffiliated with service providers that have the same specialty andgeographic location as a specified non-sponsored service provider notaffiliated with the sponsoring service.
 8. The computer storage mediumof claim 1 further comprising computer executable instructions that,when executed by the processor, perform the steps of: analyzing thegenerated webpage to determine that the generated webpage comprises oneor more unique contact numbers; determining one or more sponsoringmedical service centers associated with the one or more unique contactnumbers; and charging the account of the one or more sponsoring medicalservice centers.
 9. The computer storage medium of claim 8, wherein anamount charged to the one or more sponsoring service centers depends onthe type and location of the one or more unique contact numbers in thegenerated webpage.
 10. The computer storage medium of claim 1, furthercomprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, perform the steps of: receiving information from thesponsoring service center; retrieving a count of the number of times aunique contact number related to the sponsoring service center has beenincluded in one or more generated webpages; comparing the receivedinformation against the count; and generating a report specifying therate of successfully directing a client to the sponsoring servicecenter.
 11. The computer storage medium of claim 1, further comprisinginstructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the step ofincluding code in the generated webpage to display a rollover pop-updisplay.
 12. A system for providing information related to medicalservice providers to a user, the system comprising: a processing unit;and a memory coupled to the processing unit, the memory encodingcomputer executable instructions that, when executed by the processingunit, perform a method of generating information related to medicalservice providers, the method comprising: receiving a first request froma user at a client computer, wherein the first request comprises arequest for information related to one or more medical serviceproviders, the request comprising a geographic location and a specialty;generating a search result webpage comprising: a first unique contactnumber, the first unique contact number allowing the user to connect tothe sponsoring service provider, wherein the first unique contact numberindicates that the user was directed to the sponsoring service providerfrom the search result webpage; a list of a first set of medical serviceproviders affiliated with the sponsoring service center; and a list of asecond set of medical service providers not affiliated with thesponsoring service center, wherein the list of the second set of medicalproviders is located below the list of the first set of medical serviceproviders; sending the search result webpage to the user at the clientcomputer; receiving a second request from the user at the clientcomputer, wherein the second request comprises a request for informationrelated to a specific medical service provider affiliated with thesponsoring service center; generating a second webpage comprising: asecond unique contact number that provides access to the sponsoringservice provider, the second unique contact number indicates that theuser was directed to the sponsoring service provider from the secondwebpage, and wherein the second unique contact number is different fromthe first unique contact number; and information about the specificmedical service provider; and sending the second webpage to the user atthe client computer.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the memoryfurther comprises computer executable instructions that, when executedby the processing unit, perform steps comprising: receiving a thirdrequest from the user at the client computer, wherein the third requestcomprises a request for information related to a non-sponsored medicalservice provider not affiliated with the sponsoring service center;generating a third webpage comprising: a third unique contact numberthat provides access to the sponsoring service provider, the thirdunique contact number indicates that the user was directed to thesponsoring service provider from the third webpage, and wherein thethird unique contact number is different from the first and secondunique contact numbers; information about the sponsoring service center;and information about the non-sponsored medical service provider notaffiliated with the sponsoring service center.
 14. The system of claim13, wherein the information about the sponsored service center comprisesa list of medical service providers affiliated with the sponsoringservice center.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the informationabout the sponsoring service center comprises a rollover pop-up display.16. The system of claim 13, wherein the memory further comprisescomputer executable instructions that, when executed by the processingunit, perform steps comprising: analyzing the generated webpages todetermine that the generated webpages comprise one or more uniquecontact numbers; determining one or more sponsoring medical servicecenters associated with the one or more unique contact numbers; andcharging the account of the one or more sponsoring medical servicecenters.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the memory furthercomprises computer executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessing unit, perform steps comprising: receiving information fromthe sponsoring service center; retrieving a count of the number of timesa unique contact number related to the sponsoring service center hasbeen included in one or more generated webpages; comparing the receivedinformation against the count; and generating a report specifying therate of successfully directing a client to the sponsoring servicecenter.
 18. A system for providing patient direct connect access to amedical service provider, the system comprising: a client machine forsending a request, from a user, for information related to medicalservices; a server for: receiving the request; generating a webpage inresponse to the request for information related to medical services,wherein the webpage comprises one or more unique contact numbersidentifying a sponsoring service center; sending the webpage from theserver to the client machine; a sponsoring service center for: receivinga request for medical services from the user, wherein the user contactsthe sponsoring service center using the one or more unique contactnumbers of the webpage; recording user information related to therequest for medical services; connecting the user to an affiliatedservice provider; and the affiliated service provider for recording theuser's appointment for medical services.
 19. The system of claim 18,wherein the sponsoring service center further performs the action ofsending the user information to the server.
 20. The system of claim 18,wherein the server further generates a sponsoring hospital tag on thewebpage, wherein the sponsoring hospital tag includes a second uniquecontact number.
 21. A computer storage medium encoding computerexecutable instructions that, when executed on a processor, perform amethod of generating a webpage providing a user access to medicalservice providers via a service center, the method comprising:receiving, at a server, a request from a client for a medical serviceprovider; determining a type of the request; based upon thedetermination, generating a webpage providing the client access toinformation related to the medical service provider; and providingaccess to the medical service provider by sending the generated webpageto the client.
 22. The computer storage medium of claim 21, wherein therequest from the client comprises a request for a medical serviceprovider comprising a particular specialty and a particular geographiclocation.
 23. The computer storage medium of claim 22, wherein thegenerated webpage comprises search results listing a plurality ofmedical service providers having the particular specialty and locatedwithin the particular geographic location.
 24. The computer storagemedium of claim 23, wherein the listing of the plurality of medicalservice provides further comprises: the names of the plurality forservice providers; the location of the plurality of service providers;and a plurality of links to further information about the plurality ofservice providers.
 25. The computer storage medium of claim 21, whereinthe type of request from the client comprises a request for a servicecenter.
 26. The computer storage medium of claim 25, wherein thegenerated webpage comprises information related to the service center.27. The computer storage medium of claim 26, wherein the generatedwebpage further comprises information regarding the location of theservice center.
 28. The computer storage medium of claim 26, wherein theservice center is affiliated with a selected medical service provider.29. The computer storage medium of claim 21, wherein the type of requestfrom the complete comprises a request for information about a specificmedical service provider.
 30. The computer storage medium of claim 29,wherein the generated webpage further comprises information related tothe specific medical service provider.
 31. The computer storage mediumof claim, wherein the generated webpage further comprises: informationrelated to the specific medical service provider's practice; informationrelated to the specific medical service provider's experience; andinformation related to the specific medical service provider'seducation.